Folly Quarter Middle School GT students need to choose an above grade level detective novel to read for an individual project. Agatha Christie and Sir Aruthur Conan Doyle were two suggestions made by their teacher.

This is a tricky assignment. While there are many detective stories that contain challenging, above grade level reading, many of these stories also contain sophisticated content. How can students make the best choice?

Talking to a Library staff member is a great place to start! We love to make reading suggestions…like the Eyre Affair. You can see more of our suggestions at Highly Recommended.

More independent readers might want to try Novelist. Novelist contains reviews and summaries of thousands and thousands of books. You can search by author, title, or subject. If you find an author you like, Novelist will even choose authors that write similar books. For example, Novelist suggests M.C. Beaton as an author similar to Agatha Christie.

And now’s a great time for a reminder about the Sherlock Holmes Essay Contest. Read the classic Holmes short story, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, then write an essay related to the story. Full contest details, including essay suggestions and prizes, are available on our web site.

Students at Reservoir High School will read a young adult novel with a “search for self” theme. The student will identify three search for self issues that occur in the book, relate how the book’s characters dealt with the issue, and research what Howard County or State of Maryland resources a local student with the same problem would have at his/her disposal to handle a similar problem. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that most problems can be solved and that local sources exist to help all of us with our problems.

Howard County Library staff are ready to assist your students with selecting the perfect book, and direct them to the appropriate local resources. Come on in…or invite us to visit your classroom!

Each year the Howard County Library and the Young Adult Library Services Association encourage busy teens to Read for the Fun of It.

This year, we invite teens to participate in our Teen Read Week Read-a-thon. For each hour Howard County teens spend reading, our sponsors will make a donation to Room to Read. Teens can register to participate (starting October 1), then from October 12 to October 16 record the time they spend reading. Teens who record at least five hours of reading, are invited to attend one of six celebrations at a Howard County Library location near them.

Howard County Library staff can visit your classroom to recommend great teen reads and register students for the Read-a-thon. Contact your Library liaison to schedule a visit!